Child sex offenders of the Wide Bay | Full List
A staggering 572 sex crimes have been recorded in the Wide Bay region with one LGA reporting the highest number of offences. Of that, child sex charges have been slapped to members of the community. Now, the newest names and crimes can be revealed. Full list.
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Each year, hundreds of children across the Wide Bay are reported as victims of sexual abuse.
Queensland Police (QPS) data from from between June 2020 and June 2021 showed 474 children were reported as victims of sexual offences, rape and attempted rape or other sexual offences in the Wide Bay policing district.
But that number may have increased in the last 10 months.
According to new police data from between July 2021 and January 2022, 572 sex crimes were reported across the Wide Bay, including rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
It is not known how many children are included in that statistic.
The Fraser Coast LGA had the highest reported number of sex crimes in the Wide Bay, with a staggering 244 reports in just 10 months.
The Bundaberg LGA had 190 reports in the same time period, while the Gympie region LGA had 138 reports.
Australian Bureau of Statistics National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics Direction Will Milne said those who had experienced childhood sexual abuse were at an increased risk of experiencing sexual assault later in life.
“Women who experienced childhood sexual abuse were three times more likely to experience sexual assault later in life, compared with women who had not been sexually abused as children (43 per cent compared with 13 per cent),” he said.
“For men, the risk was five times greater (18 per cent compared with 3.4 per cent).’’
Perpetrators of sex crimes against children are a scourge on society, and over the last 10 months, the Gympie Times, Bundaberg Newsmail and Fraser Coast Chronicle have reported on those who were reprimanded for their crimes.
These are the some of the offenders who fronted Wide Bay courts in 2021:
Darren Richard Williams
A child predator claimed he lured two young girls into a bathroom and raped them because he wanted to get his sexual attraction to children “out of his system”.
Darren Richard Williams, 55, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Magistrates Court to indecent treatment of a child and two charges of rape on May 4, 2021.
William’s victims were seven-years-old and nine-years-old at the time of the attack, the court heard.
The two children were playing with Williams at a Torbanlea park while their parents were at a nearby bowls club, when Williams lured the eight-year-old into the mens toilets claiming the women’s were closed.
He digitally raped her, then used her to lure the younger girl into the toilets to do the same thing.
Once the two girls returned to their parents, they told them what happened.
The court heard after Williams’ attack on the two girls, he admitted to having a sexual attraction to children his entire life.
He was sentenced to eight years behind bars, with 467 days of presentence custody declared as time served.
Joshua Baden Wayne Black
A then 29-year-old man, who was a victim of sexual abuse, had an unlawful sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl for several months.
Joshua Baden Wayne Black, who was 33-years-old at the time of his court appearance, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay District Court in March 2021 to a lone charge of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child.
The court heard Black began sexualising the young girl in 2017 when he made “comments about what (she) was wearing”.
In June, he was laying beside her on a bed while they played Xbox when he began rubbing her inner thigh and told her “he wanted to be more than friends” and “wanted to do things to her”.
Black and the young girl had sexual relations on a weekly basis for three-to-four months before she asked Black to stop their “relationship”, which he did.
He was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars, with a 10 month suspended sentence.
He was also listed as a reportable offender under child protection legislation.
John William Spencer
A Gympie region grandfather, who used a game of “zombie” to lure two young girls into a false sense of security before molesting them, was found guilty of multiple child sex offences, including rape.
John William Spencer, who was 61 at the time, pleaded not guilty in Gympie District Court in May 2021 to two charges of rape and five charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16 who was in his care.
The court heard Spencers victims were in primary school at the time and often slept over at his house.
He used a game called “zombie”, which was similar to tag, to lure the girls into a false sense of security before he molested them.
Other times, he approached them himself.
The trial carried on for four days, before the jury found Spencer guilty one hour after they retired.
He was sentenced to a minimum of two years behind bars, and will be eligible for parole in 2023.
Dennis Christopher Barry
A repeat child sex offender, who inappropriately touched the leg of a disabled teen, had “disgusting” details of the encounter relaid to the court.
Dennis Christopher Barry, who was 74-years-old at the time of the court appearance, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg District Court in May 2021 to two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
The court heard Barry targeted the teenage girl when she was sitting alone on a bench outside a supermarket in a Hinkler shopping centre.
He struck up a conversation with the girl, which quickly turned to inappropriate topics.
He then moved his hand to the teens upper leg, before she fled and went to find her mother.
Later, the teen caught Barry staring at her again, and saw him touch himself over his clothing.
He had a history of like-offending, the court heard.
Barry was sentenced to 194 days imprisonment with the six and a half months in pre-sentence custody declared as time already served.
He was also ordered to complete 12 months of probation.
Jackson Finselbach
A 20-year-old Caboolture man admitted to grooming a young girl for sex, allegedly while behind bars.
Jackson Finselbach appeared in Gympie Magistrates Court via video link from the Woodford Correctional Centre in September 2021, where he pleaded guilty to procuring a young person for carnal knowledge and grooming a child under 16 to engage in a sexual act.
The court heard the victim was a 14-year-old girl, and Finselbach had been recorded on the phone talking about what “what he wanted to do” with the girl.
He also knew she was under 16 at the time.
His matter was transferred to Brisbane Magistrates Court, and he was sentenced to three years probation on November 2, 2021.
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